I remember buying my first DJI drone years ago and attaching 2D gimbal, gopro, attaching transmitter to the drone and receiver to the remote with third party screen on it. Looking back, today's offerings seem like a dream. You get the whole package for much less and without all the wires and antennas sticking out. I bet all geeks would still enjoy customizing their drones but as a photographer thats unnecessary burden that they don't want to invest their time in. However, with excellent camera, some solid features, drones are becoming an essential tools. If you're still not convinced, let me tell you why you need a drone, now:

Reachability: Some places are not easily reachable. or sometimes you are far from the spot where you want to be and sun is setting. I remember numerous occasions where this has happened to me and I just flew the drone from the parking lot, took a few shots and continued on my way within minutes.

Perspective: Sometimes getting the same shot that millions of other photographers have taken, gets boring. Drones may provide you that extra flexibility and perspective.

Extra hand: For things like long exposure, or time-lapse, modern drones work like tripods and can take great images without you actively doing anything. These birds can fly upto 30 minutes and can take time-lapses like you've never seen before. without any additional inputs from you once you setup the shot.

Stabilization: Even when you are not planning to get some video footage from bird's eye view, the gimbal on these drones are so useful and provides excellent stabilized footage from eye level. Photography is all about playing around with different styles and angles and this technique has been proven to be yielding great results.

Fun factor: I mean, cmon..Who doesn't like these technically advanced flying machines which can do interesting maneuvers and features like fly around, follow me, Tapfly etc. As long as you are aware of your surroundings and not causing annoyance to others, this is a great way to spend time just flying it around.

Disclaimer: I do not advise/encourage you to fly the drones where you are not supposed to. Be a responsible pilot. There are many apps and websites which provide information on areas where you are allowed to fly.

If you are looking to buy a drone and need advice please feel free to shoot me a message from contacts page or via my instagram @artakash.